Gumdrop Bread

My two sisters spent part of their Thanksgiving weekend with me, and one of the things we did was to make gumdrop bread.  Gumdrop bread is a big tradition in our family:  we've been serving it at holiday time for decades, the recipe makes a lot so everyone gets to eat plenty of it, and the chunks of colored gumdrop in the bread make it pretty as well as tasty.

With moving Mom into assisted living, and getting her house ready to sell, we hadn't made gumdrop bread for a few years.  Now I was settled in Portland, and it seemed time to renew our tradition.  With my sisters and I planning to get together anyway, it seemed like a natural time to do some holiday baking.

We actually divided up the steps involved in making the bread so that we started on Friday evening and finished on Saturday.  First, there were walnuts to chop, golden raisins to plump, and brightly colored gumdrops to cut up.  Then we had to locate the loaf pans we wanted to use - five of mine and four mini-loaf pans belonging to my sister.  We cut wax paper to fit the bottom of each greased loaf pan.  Before we went to bed, we got the butter out of the fridge so it would soften up during the night.  We were on top of this!

Next day, after a leisurely breakfast, we started by measuring out the dry ingredients to sift.  Oh, no!  Somehow, my almost-full bag of flour had been invaded by some tiny weevils - needless to say, it went straight out to the trash can.  A run to the store was needed to buy additional flour, and my sisters were interested in doing some other shopping as well. 

It was mid-afternoon by the time we got back to the gumdrop bread again.  After careful inspection, the dry ingredients were sifted.  The butter and sugar were creamed in the Kitchenaid mixer; then eggs, vanilla, and applesauce were added, filling the mixing bowl almost to the rim.  All these ingredients were then combined in the stockpot with the walnuts, raisins and gumdrops.  The stirring was hard work, so it was nice to be able to take turns.

All the bread could not be baked at once, so we started with six smaller size loaves, then three medium size loaves.  Then we washed and greased up four of the smaller pans to finish the process.  Baking time was 55-65 minutes for each group, so it was well into the evening by the time we were done.  But, what a sense of accomplishment to look at the 13 golden-brown loaves!  And, what a sense of tradition as we remembered Mom serving this same bread over 50 years ago! 

Next morning, I carefully wrapped two of the loaves in foil, and marked them "Christmas Day."  This year, we will be serving the gumdrop bread to Mom.  We are so blessed!